JPMorgan upgrades Novavax on potential 'best-in-class' COVID vaccine

JPMorgan analyst Eric Joseph upgraded Novavax to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $275, up from $105. The stock in premarket trading is up 17%, or $26.83, to $184.00. The analyst is "pleasantly impressed" by last night's initial immunogenicity/safety profile for NVX-CoV2373 in the Phase 1 COVID-19 vaccine results. It is "not too far a stretch" to conclude the activity of NVX-CoV2373 "looks best-in-class," particularly when anchored to one of the more "stringent" human convalescent sera cohorts reported to date, Joseph tells investors in a research note. On safety, the analyst views the tolerability profile of both doses "as comfortably within the bounds of licensure-eligible candidate." He believes "relative valuations" favor Novavax over the near-term ahead of the first of the competitor Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine efficacy readouts.